digital literacy made not born

Mar 6, 2012

MADE NOT BORN: Countless videos of toddlers mastering iPads make it hard to shake that feeling that the younger generation "gets it" a lot more than we do. The good news (or bad news depending on vantage point) is they may not necessarily “get it”. This Mindshift/KQED article explains that "teens are using online media to extend real world relationships, explore interests, express identities, and expand their independence" much in the same way that society has always utilized new technology. In fact, analysis of data from the Digital Youth Project at Berkeley, suggests that digital natives are not born, but made through the “cultural, institutional, interpersonal, and developmental forces” around them. What implications this has for educational institutions remains to be seen. The bad news of course, is that no matter what, they still "get it" a lot more than we do!

MADE NOT BORN: Countless videos of toddlers mastering iPads make it hard to shake that feeling that the younger generation "gets it" a lot more than we do. The good news (or bad news depending on vantage point) is they may not necessarily “get it”. This Mindshift/KQED article explains that "teens are using online media to extend real world relationships, explore interests, express identities, and expand their independence" much in the same way that society has always utilized new technology. In fact, analysis of data from the Digital Youth Project at Berkeley, suggests that digital natives are not born, but made through the “cultural, institutional, interpersonal, and developmental forces” around them. What implications this has for educational institutions remains to be seen. The bad news of course, is that no matter what, they still "get it" a lot more than we do!